May 28

Start: messenger flats campground
End: in a canyon with a great view of highway 15
Daily: 19.5
Total: 449.8

Today was Popsicle Day. By that I mean there were a lot of obstacles. See, one day I saw a downed tree on the trail and said "Obstacle!" and Chilidog thought I said "Popsicle!" So now every obstacle is a popsicle.

Anyway, first there were a lot of downed trees. We were still in the Station Fire area and there are a lot of burned trees that fall. Some of them were really big.

Then there was the fact that the trail basically slid off the trail in some areas because it hasn't been worked on since the fire. Not too bad, but not good for making miles.

Then there was tons of poison oak all over the drainages. We'll see whether we avoided those popsicles tomorrow.

Then there was Poodle Dog Bush. It's this really poorly named plant that does not resemble a bush or a poodle. When it blooms, the flowers feel like stinging nettle. And it tends to bloom right at hand/face level, which are also the only exposed parts of most thru-hikers. Neither of us got stung, but there was a note left by Bubbles, I'm assuming, that warned us of the plant. She must have asked at the ranger station we passed. Under her note someone wrote "Umm... Poison oak all over the trail?" which I thought was funny because Bubbles never notices poison oak even though we've passed tons of it.

Then there were the bees in the trail. IN the trail. There was another note, this one old and yellowed, that said "CAUTION: BEES. In the ground. Go around." I peeked around the corner and saw that there were indeed hundreds of bee-sized holes in the tread of the trail. Since I tend to get really painful reactions to bee stings, I bushwhacked up and around the bees nests. There were bees for about fifty feet of the trail... Ugh. Chris just jumped over one group of holes to see what would happen, but it just pissed them off so I was too scared to go over too. That was my least favorite obstacle.

I think that was all the obstacles. The day got better when we made it all the way down to the road and a Forest Service guy named Israel gave us cold Gatorade and Snickers and talked to us for a while. He'd done a couple of sections of the PCT but said he couldn't do the whole thing at once because he'd just gotten his permanent position with the Forest Service. Congrats, and thanks, Israel. (Permanent positions can be hard to come by for seasonal employees.)

Then we walked another five miles to where we are and set up camp. We're setting ourselves up for a lot of time off at the Saufleys' and/or Andersons'. Our feet and legs really need it.

To answer Rich's question: our feet and legs are holding up pretty well, but we haven't had a full day off since Idyllwild, so I can tell my legs are really tired on the uphill. Our feet and ankles need a break every so often too, or they feel bruised on the bottom and just plain sore. I can tell it's not just me, Chris feels really tired and hurting by the end of each long day too. Every time we sleep they get a little stronger. Apparently your muscles adapt first, then tendons, then bones. I can tell my tendons are lagging. Also, on a side note, women who thru hike are less likely to get osteoporosis when they're older, because their bones are stronger.  Hooray! Finally, we didn't start with 20 mile days. We started with a 14, then a 5, then a day and a half off.

Chris says one day of this finishes him off too, but then he wakes up and wants to do it again... And by the end of that day he's done again. Also, we usually go to bed saying we'll take it easier the next day, but the next day it just makes sense to go the extra miles to get water/a good camp spot/burgers.